July 13, 2012

When Grandkids Start Asking About Great-Grandfathers - Yay!

The Ancestor Wall in Living Room

Yes brainwashing telling grandkids about ancestors does pay off! As many of my readers know, I brainwash tell genealogy stories to my grandkids every time I see them. We play genealogy games. We go on cemetery hunts. We play the Genealogy Board Game I created.

Yesterday it all paid off. My 7 year old grandson was sitting on the couch with me and he looked up at our walls of ancestor photos, then asked, "Grandma, do I have any great-grandpas up there?"

I showed him the photo of my dad in his army uniform, and explained that was his great-grandpa McGinnis. Then he asked who all the people were in the rest of the pictures. So we went through them one by one. "This is my great grandmother, so she is your great-great-great grandma!" He was fascinated and asked questions such as "What is she to my Daddy?" and "How do you get to be a great-great-great grandpa?" and "How old do you have to be to be a grandpa?"

These questions allowed for an explanation of different generations, which he seemed to understand. I can't wait for the next round of questions!

New!

Death Finds a Way: A Janie Riley Mystery by Lorine McGinnis SchulzeJanie Riley is an avid genealogist with a habit of stumbling on to dead bodies. She and her husband head to Salt Lake City Utah to research Janie's elusive 4th great-grandmother. But her search into the past leads her to a dark secret. Can she solve the mysteries of the past and the present before disaster strikes?

I'm an incurable collector of
antiques, an avid genealogist and a messy but creative cook! I blog, i write history and genealogy books. My main genealogy website is Olive Tree Genealogy http://olivetreegenealogy.com/

Lorine is the author of many published genealogical and historical
articles and books available at
http://LorineSchulze.com